Residents of Hackberry Creek sample local vendors at Taste of Hackberry, a gathering the neighborhood considers the social event of the year. The neighborhood was ranked No. 1 in the Irving/Coppell area for wealthy buyers according to data analysis by The Dallas Morning News.

A father and daughter finish sliding down an inflatable mountain at Taste of Hackberry.

College sweethearts Dan and Dannie Flaherty moved into the gated north Irving community of Hackberry Creek as newlyweds and first-time homeowners in 1992.

The couple met at the University of Dallas, and while the campus isn’t too far away, Dannie Flaherty said she loves Hackberry for its similar feel.

“It’s just such a friendly and fun place,” Dannie Flaherty said. “We’re always in and out of each other’s homes. It’s like a big dorm room.”

Like many other residents of Hackberry, the Flahertys have moved around within the community to accommodate their growing family and lifestyle.

Dannie Flaherty said their current home and third buy in the community, priced at a little over half a million, is her dream home.

Hackberry Creek ranked No. 1 in The Dallas Morning News’ data analysis of best neighborhoods for wealthy buyers in the Irving, Coppell and Valley Ranch areas.

The analysis was based on neighborhoods with a median home value of $250,000 or more.

The News based its rankings on such factors as safety, neighborhood maintenance and ease of commute, weighted according to the surveyed preferences of individuals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area who identified themselves as making more than $85,000 per year. Price-sensitive factors like affordability, home-value appreciation and quality of public schools did not factor into the analysis.

Hackberry’s 18-hole golf course and country club stretches south of Interstate 635, east of North Belt Line Road and north of where the George Bush Turnpike meets State Highway 114.

The Lakes of Coppell, a 1,319-home neighborhood with nine subdivisions in far northeast Coppell, took the No. 2 spot for wealthy buyers.

The 500-acre development, built around three lakes and a portion of the Trinity River, is 23 years old. Lakes of Coppell’s median home value is $346,000, said realtor and longtime resident Ed James.

Hackberry Creek also took the No. 1 spot in The News’ best neighborhoods survey for families with children, was rated the No. 1 best neighborhood for schools and ranked second after Lakes of Coppell as the best neighborhood in the area for empty nesters.

“It’s a just a wonderful place to live with a mixture and diversity of age groups,” said Debbie McCoy, who has lived in Hackberry Creek for 20 years.

McCoy has also been selling homes in Hackberry Creek for 13 years with her ReMax D-FW Associates team, Team McCoy.

“It’s the best location in the metroplex, and we have such easy access to anywhere in the community,” McCoy said.

Hackberry homes range from $225,000 to $650,000, with the largest home at 5,000 square feet, McCoy said. Hackberry’s median home value is $371,603, with the more expensive homes located on the golf course, she said.

The Flahertys’ two-story brick home is on the 14th hole of Hackberry’s golf course.

Hackberry Creek is a five-minute drive to Dan Flaherty’s company, Gemmy Industries, in Coppell on Wrangler Drive. He started his multi-million dollar company in Irving on Walnut Hill Lane and Story Road in 1984 before moving it to Coppell’s industrial park.

Gemmy is best known for its Big Mouth Billy Bass product, a singing fish meant to be comical wall décor, and specializes in outdoor lighting and decorations.

Gemmy’s original Irving location was also the first home of North Hills Preparatory School, now on Royal Lane.

While schools weren’t a part of The News’ survey for wealthy buyers, about half of Hackberry’s students attend IB World Program schools, such as Las Colinas Elementary School in the Ranchview High School cluster, which also has an International Baccalaureate program. Another part of the population attends Uplift Education’s North Hills Preparatory School, a public charter school in Las Colinas, Dannie Flaherty said.

While the Flahertys pay private school tuition for their three children — their two sons attend Cistercian Preparatory School in Las Colinas and their daughter attends Ursuline Academy of Dallas — they’ve had a hand in helping provide a quality education for their community.

Rosemary Perlmeter, the founder of North Hills, which was one of the state’s first charter schools, lived two doors down from the Flahertys in Hackberry.

“Rosemary was always passionate about providing a quality education to lower-income families, so when she got the idea for North Hills, Dan offered up the extra space in his [Irving] building,” Dannie Flaherty said.

The Flahertys also put Gemmy’s yard inflatables to good use every Halloween. In 2006, Dannie Flaherty became an organizer of one of Hackberry Creek’s long list of social events by starting the neighborhood’s Halloween Festival.

“I got the idea from watching the movie Stepmom,” Dannie Flaherty said. “Local restaurants donate dinner for the children; we have a photo booth, petting zoo and Cinderella’s carriage inflatable. We also turn the wood park into a scary haunted tunnel.”

In 2008, Dannie Flaherty passed the festival off to another resident but still helps with the Taste of Hackberry, the community’s annual food festival featuring local restaurants and live music.